About to take the plunge - 2001 Range Rover

[One4adventure]

Quit your job and immediately drive to Vegas.

Spoken like an early p38 owner, note I recommend the later Bosch engined variant but your mileage may vary. Quality was not great until BMW fired most of the engineers on the project I hear.

They are of course a fairly complicated car, but not so complicated that a good DIY mechanic can't cope, i do all my own wrenching save for tire and exhaust work. As for EAS you need to pull the relays BEFORE hard fault occurs to avoid at trip to the stealership or your local specialist (or rapist as I hear them called)
Whatever you might hear the EAS is easy to repair and troubleshoot, and certainly swapping out in favour of coils is blasphemy.
Having said all that I would rather be stranded in the woods in my series lla any day!!
:smiley_drive:

 

[ScottK]

Wow, I'm late to the party. I don't have much to add that Jack hasn't covered. SteveMFR, you'll probably remember me as the moderator of the P38 forum on rangerovers.net for several years under the name skippy3k. I know you were there for awhile. I was a huge P38 fan, and there are even posts circling the internet of me arguing the benefits of EAS in off-road situations. (ack.) I even repaired my own BeCM, so I thought I was the king of P38's. After a few years of worrying about the EAS, I replaced them with coils. Small compromise, I convinced myself.

You know what I drive now? A '95 Classic, and I absolutely love it. I feel like I wasted my first years of Land Rover ownership in my P38. I used to spend countless hours on long trips, wondering what was going to break next and if I could fix it with hand tools. Everything I touched had a mass of wires and electronics, or was hidden by wires and electronics. When I finally sold it to a 17 year old kid, his dad asked me if it was a good first vehicle for a kid. I said no way. They bought it anyway, much like the original poster in this thread did.

Sorry, SteveMFR, but I've seen the light. And if I've seen the light amidst my intense love of P38's, then it must be for a good reason. I know I should have listened to Jack and others a long time ago, but I guess we all come to the realization in our own time.

 

[bentonrover]

Traded my 98 disco for a 99 p38 title for title. Mixed feelings. I put a lot of work into the disco with some offroad mods but the damn thing was a rust bucket,.lound tranny whine and clunks. Basic maintance kept it running as should. Now the p38 has had it share of issue abs/tc just nagging stuff. Smooth tranny little lift on coils rides 10 times better with the same mileage as the disco. Would I do it again. Sure would in a heart beat. For a 4-runner that is lol..

 

[zimm]

heres what ive learned..




























i want to hang with JSQ. he owned this thread. in reparte and quality of advise.

 

[spikemd]

Love my P38

Not sure how 'sound' JSQ's advice is/was. More like a rant than helpful...

I hate to go against the collective knowledge of the members on this forum, but so far I still love my truck.

Mods to date:
SD roof rack
Southdown front steering rack guard
Sliders tapped for extra air
Rewire rear 12v plug to constant voltage to run ARB fridge
Upsize tires to 265/70r16s Bridgestone Revo 2s
EAS suite works to access EAS issues (which I haven't had any)

Maintenance/Probs:
fluid changes (tranny + filter/oil/u-joint lube)
coolant leak fixed with new throttle body gasket
O2 sensor occasionally triggers CEL (90k miles, its due to be replaced)
Climate control light on when hot (a/c still works, changed relays, most likely fusebox which is a common issue)
Sliders/air - no faults with EAS, small leak in sliders keep them from holding air, they are 'homemade' by another P38 enthusiast. They still work great as sliders, but I need to re-weld the end cap to be airtight.

Future mods - Arnott gen III airsprings with elongated shocks, more armor, lights for rack

My goal - to make a capable, reliable expo rig to explore California and the Southwest.

Many people scoff at this idea with a P38, but even as a stock vehicle, it is quite capable. It rides better than my 4Runner. The later years have less issues than the earlier models. I am not trying to build a vehicle to circumnavigate the globe. There is wealth of knowledge on the web to fix issues. Yes, I know... the list of potential issues looks quite extensive, but I can handle most of them. I dropped a 1998 BMW M3 motor/drivetrain and suspension into a 1985 chassis.

Besides, part of the Land Rover experience is the challenge, frustration and insanity of owning one.

I hope to meet JSQ on the trails someday...

:smiley_drive:

 

[AxeAngel]

Careful with those air fittings, I could see them getting shorn off on the rocks are some moderate trails.

Looks good otherwise.

-Sam

 

[REDROVER]

i always had hummers but i loved the way classic range rover looks, when i decided to get one every mechanic i spoke every forum i went told me to stay away,
well guess what i went against and got me a classic, 1989 with 121.000 miles on it, i have to admit nock on wood its been one of the best vehicles i have owed in my life, i did basic tune up and check all necessary staff from day one, and drove about 26.000 miles all offroad ( not rock crawling) and i love it, no problems at all.

my point is p38 is not as bad as some say we have guys in land rover club that use p38 they don't complain. every car has some + and -

 

[David Harris]

i always had hummers but i loved the way classic range rover looks, when i decided to get one every mechanic i spoke every forum i went told me to stay away,
well guess what i went against and got me a classic, 1989 with 121.000 miles on it, i have to admit nock on wood its been one of the best vehicles i have owed in my life, i did basic tune up and check all necessary staff from day one, and drove about 26.000 miles all offroad ( not rock crawling) and i love it, no problems at all.

my point is p38 is not as bad as some say we have guys in land rover club that use p38 they don't complain. every car has some + and -

In my experience the RRC has been one of the more reliable of the modern LR's.

 

[spikemd]

Careful with those air fittings, I could see them getting shorn off on the rocks are some moderate trails.

Looks good otherwise.

-Sam

I agree on the vulnerability of the fitting. I have a cap to go over it for mud protection, but it is exposed and could be sheared off. I have a Y-connector in the airline that connects the slider to the EAS and this can be easily and quickly removed in the event of an airleak.

 

[benlittle]

Please keep posting. This thread is one of the few oases of entertainment in a vast desert of misinformation and questionable opinions.

Well said.

 

[andycwb]

Yeah, please stick with the accepted nomenclature. P38 or P38a, this is what it's known as , like it or not, thanks for playing along.

Actually P38 is something that's appeared in the user community. The vehicle was code named Project 38a by LR because it was housed in building 38a at Solihull. It was never known as a P38 by Landrover.

I owned one for 7 years as my everyday car and grinned to the day I traded it in for a 2004 disco. I'd take one overland, but only because I spent 7 years researching the vehicle and had the full diagnostic gear. Id have a couple of cases of spares if I did, too.

OTOH, I'd take the Disco into the wilds tomorrow with not much more than an oil change. For the wilds you get within 400 miles of London, anyways.

 

[David Harris]

my interest is for something to work on and improve my mechanical, welding, electrical and exorcism skills- OK that last one will require a priest:ylsmoke:

You can never completely exorcise the ghost of Lucas . . . :Wow1:

 

[David Harris]

Orvis poster boy . . .

 

[LeoLR]

Nice to see a couple rr.net members here. Lets leave the wheel questions there and keep this offroad related.

For you that own Range Rovers. rangerovers.net/forum is the best place for technical questions and friendly folks. They do have a couple theives as vendors so beware, PM me for details if you wish. Nice thing is theres no Discoweb style bs there the mods are strict about it.


And also glad to see all the resident P38 experts here on Expo. What would we all do without all your first hand ownership expirence to share with us. Youve all owned a P38 right???Didnt think so


If your mechanically retarded, a Toyota owner or think the Disco is something special please dont buy a P38.

If you dont fit the above and enjoy owning a rewarding, stately, safe, tough and well engineered vehicle the P38 will be a good match for you. Its not very expensive to own and as I said the most rewarding vehicle you can own. Its still by far the best looking 4x4 ever made. So understated and stately, not flashy like the MKIII or outdated like the Classic. Its not a vehicle for the masses, never was ment to be either.

 

[MattScott]

If your mechanically retarded, a Toyota owner or think the Disco is something special please dont buy a P38.

Toyota Owner? Really?